Hearty Winter Leek Fennel Sausage Minestrone

This is a relatively straight forward, and really well rounded, 1 pot meal. It also makes good use of the wintery vegetables fennel and leek. Max even likes it all whizzed up to a puree. The only time consuming bit is the sauteing of the sausages, which could be done in advance. The rest takes about 20 min.

Serves 4

Ingredients
500g pork sausages
1 big / 2 small bulbs fennel, finely sliced, fronds reserved
1 leek, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 Litre good quality chicken stock (I used Simon Gault)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can butter beans
1 cup cooked macaroni elbows

Method
In a large pot, cook sausages until browned. Transfer to a plate. In the same pot add fennel, leek, garlic, and fennel seeds. Cook about 5 min stirring continuously. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, and browned chopped sausage, and simmer for about 20 min until leeks are well cooked. Add beans and macaroni and cook another couple minutes.

Nutrient Dense Ginger Muffins

Adapted from Julie Bhosale's Gingerbread muffins for morning sickness! Gingerbread Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter (yes 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup of molasses 

2 Tbsp of golden syrup

1 egg

1/2 c of greek yoghurt 

1/2 c of milk

2 tsp of ground ginger

1 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of nutmeg

1 and 1/2 cups wholemeal flour

3/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup ground linseed, sunflower seed, and almond

2 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of baking soda

Crystalised ginger and/or walnuts for the topping

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease a muffin tin.

2. Place a pot on medium heat and melt the butter (to a liquid), turn the heat right down and add the golden syrup and molasses to combine. Add egg, milk, yoghurt and spice

3. In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients: flours, LSA, baking soda, baking powder. Then add the liquids (butter, syrup, molasses) and stir gently to combine. Mixture should be quite light and fluffy.

4. Pour or spoon evenly into the muffin holes and then add a walnut/crystalised ginger (if using). Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, until cooked through and allow to cool slightly before removing.

Mince Curry with Flaky Roti

This is a really nice one, and makes use of the more wintery vegetables.

Ingredients
1 kg of lean minced beef
3 onions chopped finely
6- 8 large potatoes cut into cubes
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Fresh garlic -about 6-8 cloves and
One big piece fresh Ginger all peeled and grated on fine side of grater
A bunch of fresh coriander roughly chopped
2-3 tablespoons of roasted masala
2 teaspoons of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of red chili powder
2 teaspoons of salt
3 cardamom pods
And some stick cinnamon .
A few curry leaves
1 can of garden peas or 1 cup of frozen peas

Method
In a large pot (a big soup / stock pot is best) heat oil and add the onions , salt and whole spices and fry till golden brown . Next add mince meat, garlic and ginger and cook and stir for about 15 minutes. Add spices and let braise with the meat for a minute or so . Add a cup of hot water and cook on medium heat for about 30- minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a bit of water when needed . Now add the cubed potatoes and 2 cups of water . Cook on medium heat until potatoes are almost soft then at this stage add your peas . Just before serving add chopped coriander . Serve with Basmati rice or Roti .

Flaky Roti


Ingredients
1 kg of cake flour
1-2 teaspoons of salt
2-3 tablespoons of oil
+- 2 cups Warm water
150grams of butter
Put a cup of flour one side to work/ knead the dough. It's better to have a wet dough and just knead in the remaining flour .

Method
Mix flour, salt and warm water in a large bowl, now add remaining flour until a soft elastic dough forms. Cover and leave on side for a few minutes to rest .
Then take bits of the dough to form a small tennis-ball-size balls - take some oil and rub the balls so to prevent dough from drying out -
Now roll each one out on a lightly oiled surface to form a round big disc . Spread a layer of butter on the discs , roll them up to form a long thin sausage. Roll up each end of the sausage to form an s-shaped roll and then fold one side on top of the other.
Cover with clingwrap and Place the roti in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the fridge for a few hours . Roll out each bun the size of a dinner plate again and fry in a non stick big pan or frying pan until its golden on both sides . Do not fry too long ..it will turn out hard .
I try to roll out my roti dough as thin as possible and my surface are always oiled with vegetable oil , my butter is room temperature , this ensures a very light , fluffy and crispy roti .
An electric frying pan is also great for frying roti - Do not use a small pan , you will then end up with a thick roti , with uneven cooking at the edges .

Source: CapeMalayCookingWithFatimaSydow

Delicious Japanese Beef Curry

This is a fabulous winter option, as its super warming, super tasty, and makes use of cheaper winter vegetables. Serves 4-5.

Ingredients:  
- 800g beef skirt steak, chopped
- 2 onions, diced
- 8 cloves garlic, chopped 
- 2-inch piece ginger, chopped 
- 3 Tbsp curry powder
- 4 cups beef stock
- 1 medium apple, puréed (you may need to add a bit of water to the blender to get it going) 
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste 
- 4 Tbsp Japanese soy sauce 
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (or sub tamarind juice) 
- 2 medium carrot,
- 2 large potatoes,bite size bits
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 4 Tbsp butter 
- 6 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Instructions:

In a big heavy-bottomed pot (eg: 22cm casserole) add just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom and heat over medium high heat until the oil is very hot. Add beef to the pot without letting it crowd, you may need to do this in 2 batches. Let sear without stirring until browned, then flip and sear the other sides, and repeat until at least 3 sides are browned. Watch your heat and make sure you don’t burn the brown stuff that’s on the bottom of the pot. Remove the beef andset aside.

To the same pot, add onion, garlic, ginger and saute over medium heat for a few minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. Add tomato paste and saute for a minute. Add curry powder and toast the spices for one more minute, adding more oil if it seems to dry. Add the beef stock, pureed apple, the seared beef, soy sauce, and worcestershire sauce. Cover and simmer on low heat (or put in over at 175deg) for at least 2 hours.
 

Once the beef has simmered, add carrots, potato and simmer, uncovered, for another 30 minutes until the potato and carrots are tender. If using peas, stir them in about 15 minutes after the potato has gone in. 

Meanwhile, make a roux by melting butter in a small pot, then add the flour and stir over medium heat until the colour has darkened slightly. Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.

When curry is done, stir in half the roux and bring to a simmer. Check the thickness, and if you want it thicker, add some or all of the remaining roux. If you have leftover roux, you can save it for another use in the fridge or freezer, it can be used to thicken any kind of soup, stock, or stew.

Adapted from: Pai's Kitchen